Themed route

At the Bend of Neffe

Belgium

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Type

Hiking
Off-road Cycling

Distance

1.81 km

This route, between the Mardasson Memorial and the village of Neffe, follows paths that lead to the closest point at which the German Army breakthrough managed to reach towards Bastogne in the east, on 19 and 20 December 1944.

It is thanks to the actions and bravery of the many American units who defended the perimeter of Bastogne in December 1944 and January 1945, that the town was never captured by German troops during the Battle of the Bulge.

This thematic route enables you to discover two different sides to the story of Bastogne’s history during the Second World War. On one hand, a place symbolic in 1940 with the successful breakthrough of German troops. Then, on the other hand, the place in 1944 where the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) was blocked on the outskirts of Bastogne, in the village of Neffe.

The small village symbolically marks the place where the American forces, halted Generalleutnant (Lieutenant-General) Fritz Bayerlein’s attempt to quickly capture Bastogne from the east. American troops of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Cherry’s combat team (U.S. 10th Armored Division), plus engineers from the 158th Engineers Combat Battalion and later, supported by the paratroopers of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, managed to defend the area. Neffe therefore remembers the violent hand-to-hand combat which occurred in several of its houses.

The route follows part of the main road, and it allows walkers to retrace a part of the sequence of events that helps explain the failure of the German Panzer Lehr Division at the gates of Bastogne. 

The route is accessible to both walkers and mountain bikers.